i just want to make a quick comment about the post on stuttering.

July 3, 2001 7:41 PM

i just want to make a quick comment about the post on stuttering. c'mon folks, can we not keep the level a little more intelligent than this?
posted by will to Etiquette/Policy at 7:41 PM (11 comments total)

are you referring to the link itself, or the disdain that follows? - rcb
posted by rebeccablood at 7:54 PM on July 3, 2001

the link itself.
posted by will at 1:13 AM on July 4, 2001

The "Can't-you-take-a-joke-brigade" came out in full force in that thread, and of course, they are right, in a way. Life's too short to take things very seriously. However, considering that article was posted just so the poster could make a lame joke at the expense of other people...that's obnoxious.
And the people who argue in the defense of offensive jokes on MeFi inevitably end up taking the situation just as seriously as the people offended.
If you make a tasteless joke, you're acting like an ass. It's not the end of the world. Someone should make you aware of this, and then life can resume as normal.
posted by Doug at 6:37 AM on July 4, 2001

what is impotent is people overcoming this, jokes may hurt but expect them back if your weakness is discovered(god help you if you cant take a joke) ive lived with it and ive seen people who are simply nervous look worse then most people who stutter. my father stuttered, i did(mild, shortlived) and my best school chums brother did. (little brother has a phd in astrophysics, big brother is probably one of the top 50 american mechanics, my father worked for...a very large construction company(nuke plants, airports, dams etc.), and me, forget me(thanks). Anger, jokes, hatred, insensitivity, and in-fighting are all here. I can best think of a triumph of the stutterer (though in fiction) Milton in 'Office Space' (a copy lent to me by a MeFi member) hehehehehehehehe.he-he.
posted by clavdivs at 9:43 AM on July 4, 2001

umbrellaformymaitahi,i....
posted by clavdivs at 9:44 AM on July 4, 2001

not a stutterer, but I was more offended by this post than I have been in a long time. and I'm getting tired of being accused of political correctness (myself or whomever) whenever I think something is mean (or racist or sexist) and I say so.... - rcb
posted by rebeccablood at 12:49 PM on July 4, 2001

It seems that there's a whole class of cliche jokes (and light-hearted arguments about "lightening up" or "unclenching" about people who get offended at jokes about minorities, women and the disabled. Frankly, that's pretty tacky too.

I really didn't think much of the stuttering post, until I read this MeTalk post. I guess I wasn't personally offended, or entertained, by it. At the same time, I didn't like seeing people's statements that it offended them get criticized.

There's no point in having a discussion to justify tastes in humor. I wish people would simply accept that every post about what they think is funny is entitled to appreciation
posted by rschram at 4:18 PM on July 4, 2001

Amen, rcb.

I was thinking about all this on my way home from work today. Whoever it was who advised some of us to "unclench" really really pissed me off.

I'm pretty sure that was the intent behind the comment. Some people just live to piss people off.

Does anybody know where I can get some of whatever clavdivs is smoking? This rum 'n' coke just isn't doing it for me.
posted by acridrabbit at 5:10 PM on July 5, 2001

it's pretty interesting to watch mob mentality on mefi. first a bunch of people piled onto the original poster; then a bunch of people piled on to them. I stayed to fight, and then everyone piled onto me. all of the original objectors have gone silent. :)

but you know, it's so often a pile-on here.
posted by rebeccablood at 5:33 PM on July 5, 2001

rcb,

The pile-on nature has really gotten to me. I have cut back on responding on Mefi quite a bit. I find myself about to respond to someone's callous remark rather than add to a thread.

I don't know what to do about it. I still read a good portion of the front page posts and follow some of the threads, but I keep stopping myself from joining in.

There are still a lot posters here that I enjoy and still contribute daily despite the nickpicking. As long as there are people like ZachsMind, Holgate, and many others adding to the conversation, I will continue to read. I just hope that I get back my motivation to respond in a constructive manner.
posted by john at 6:15 PM on July 5, 2001

Acridrabbit, I advised rebeccablood to unclench, I didn't do it with the intent of pissing her or you off, (I did it before the "pile-on", I don't know why others felt the need to reiterate what I had said ad-infinitum, and I never would have posted had I suspected that would ensue, as I find herd behavior to be a drag at best), but that my telling her to unlench does piss you off is, yes, frankly amusing to me now, here, after the fact.

Why? Because I can only marvel at the fragility of a psyche so easily upset.

If immature humor still rattles you so at your age (I'm assuming you're a grown-up) I can only marvel at how you've managed to go through life this long without death, or sickness, or poverty, or true hatred, or any or the real horrors people have to deal with on a daily basis to allow you to put something so utterly meaningless as a immature remark into it's proper context.

I post here with a light heart and and smirk, and you bring such non-existent vitriol with you to my words.

Seriously.
Unclench.
Do it for the children.
posted by dong_resin at 10:51 AM on July 6, 2001